title: Incorporation of a rotavirus vaccine into the national immunisation schedule in the United Kingdom: a review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rotavirus, the commonest cause of severe acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide, imposes a large health and economic burden on the British society, accounting for an estimated 14,300 hospitalisations and 133,000 general practitioner consultations each year among children aged < 5 years in England and Wales alone. Following a tender process, an attenuated human rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Belgium), was introduced into the UK childhood immunisation programme in 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article provides a review of the product profile of the Rotarix vaccine for use in the national immunisation programme in the UK from an expert perspective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This single G1P[8] strain-based human rotavirus vaccine has demonstrated high efficacy in preventing severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in the first 3 years of life in middle- and high-income countries. In countries that have adopted rotavirus vaccine in childhood immunisation programmes, indirect benefits (herd protection) have been observed among older, unvaccinated children and adults. When the first dose is administered between 6 and 14 weeks of age and the last dose by 24 weeks of age, Rotarix carries a small risk of intussusception within the week of vaccination. However, this small risk may at most result in a negligible population attributable risk at the end of the first year of life. Overall, the rotavirus immunisation programme is expected to provide substantial health benefits to the UK population.
authors.affiliation: Nagasaki University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology , 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8523 , Japan +81 95 849 7061 ; +81 95 849 7064 ; onakagom@nagasaki-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakagomi
authors.forename: Miren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iturriza-Gomara
authors.forename: Toyoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagomi
authors.forename: Nigel A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Cunliffe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D032521:Immunity, Herd; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007223:Infant; D007443:Intussusception / Q000209:etiology; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology; D013222:State Medicine / Q000592:standards; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: C492457:RIX4414 vaccine; D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated